Recognizing Effective Teaching
Thomas J. Kane
Professor of Education and Economics
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Tracking Student Growth in Achievement
Teacher B
Achievement
Teacher A
2
Tracking Student Growth in Achievement
Average
Student Growth
Teacher B
Achievement
Teacher A
Requires:
1. Annual testing (to measure change in a given teacher’s classroom).
2. Accurate lists of students in each teacher’s classroom.
3. Linking data on teacher credentials, experience, etc.
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Los Angeles
4
0
2
4
6
8
New York City
-.4
-.3
-.2
-.1
0
.1
.2
Student Level Standard Deviations
Traditionally Certified
Teach for America
.3
.4
Teaching Fellow
Uncertified
Note: Shown are estimates of teachers' impacts on average student performance, controlling for teachers' experience levels and students' baseline
scores, demographics and program participation; includes teachers of grades 4-8 hired since the 1999-2000 school year.
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Los Angeles
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Lessons Learned in U.S.:
1.
Some teachers are much more effective than others in promoting student
achievement.
•
2.
Effectiveness is not related to a teacher’s credentials.
•
3.
4.
Large differences within the same schools.
Even Teach for America teachers are not substantially better on average.
Teachers improve during first two years teaching, but plateau thereafter.
Teacher evaluations have been perfunctory, unrelated to effectiveness and
most teachers earn tenure without any meaningful review.
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When to intervene?
Raise
Evaluate
and Coach
Reform Entry
teacher Standards Beginning
Teachers
trainin
Tenure
g
Recruitment
Decision
PreService
Training
Probation
Period of high turnover
Raise
Standards
for Tenure
Offer longterm
bonuses to
retain best
performers
Offer
bonuses to
incentive
effort
Teaching Career
Low turnover
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Where to intervene?
Recruitment
PreService
Training
Tenure
Decision
Probation
Period of high turnover
Reasons to focus:
1. Allowed under current law.
2. Common ground with labor movement.
3. Focus limited resources on the 15 percent of teachers
in their first 2 years of teaching.
4. Given turnover rates, would eventually impact a large
share of teaching force anyway.
Teaching Career
Low turnover
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But how to measure performance in the classroom?
• Measures of Effective Teaching project
•
•
•
•
Largest study of instructional practice ever undertaken.
Funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ($50 million)
3000 teachers in 6 school districts (2009-10 and 2010-11)
In 2010-11, teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms
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What to Measure?
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Video example – coming tomorrow!
Advanced Proficient
Basic
Unsatisfactory
Example of Guideline for Classroom Observation:
Framework for Teaching (Danielson)
Yes/no Questions, posed in
rapid succession, teacher
asks all questions, same few
students participate.
Some questions ask for
student explanations, uneven
attempts to engage all
students.
Most questions ask for
explanation, discussion
develops/teacher steps
aside, all students
participate.
All questions high quality,
students initiate some
questions, students engage
other students.
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Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
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Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
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Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
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Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
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Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
18
Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
19
Students Can Distinguish Between Teachers
Percent of Students by Classroom Agreeing
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Results so far:
• A teacher’s track record of achievement gains is the best single
predictor of future achievement gains.
• Observers can identify practices which are associated with student
achievement gains, but reliability requires multiple observers and
multiple observations.
• Student surveys can provide feedback on specific aspects of their
classroom experience, which is both reliable and predictive of student
achievement.
• Teachers with higher combined scores on (1) achievement gains, (2)
student surveys and (3) classroom observations had students with
better outcomes on all measures.
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Resources:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Observation instruments
Student surveys (MET version of Tripod survey)
Rater certification software (August 2012)
More reports in January, 2013.
www.metproject.org
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